Sony going for Venom spinoff?

Looks like it’s weird-movie-announcement week. Sony has decided to go ahead with a spinoff of Venom, one of Spiderman’s better enemies. For those (especially those who hate the moviezation of Spiderman) who haven’t seen Spider-Man 3, Venom is a shape-shifting symbiote that requires a host DNA to perform, or some such stuff.

In any case, I like Venom better than Doc Ock or Green Goblin or the rest of that nonsense. Then again, Venom is Spiderman’s archenemy, which means that he is to Spiderman what The Joker is to Batman or what Lex Luthor is to Superman or Elmer Fudd is to Bugs Bunny and so on. And from the Spiderman rogue gallery, I’d say Venom is the only one who can make for a badass movie.

With a Spiderman sequel nowhere in sight, it seems that Sony is trying to use a spinoff to garner some extra attention to the franchise. Fox is doing something similar with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel that will be the origin story for Wolverine. With a similar treatment on Magneto in the works, it looks like spinoffs are in fashion.

Back to the movie, Jacob Estes has been comissioned to create a script for the movie. Topher Grace, who played Venom in Spider-Man 3 will most likely not be back this time, as Sony is not sure if he can hold up an entire movie by himself. Fair enough.

What do you think of this move? Will spinoffs be good? Can you picture a whole movie on Venom? Is this superhero movie madness a good thing?